CARTER - Name Meaning & Origin

CARTER Surname Meaning & Origin:

Carter is an English occupational name for the transporter of goods by cart or wagon. From the Anglo-Norman French "caretier," a derivative of Old French "caret" which originally meant "carrier."

Another possible derivation comes from "cairtear," a Gaelic term for tourist or sojourner.

Carter is the 46th most popular surname in the United States and the 54th most common surname in England.

Surname Origin:

English

Alternate Surname Spellings:

MCCARTER, CARTIER

Famous People with the Surname CARTER:

• Jimmy Carter - 39th president of the United States
• Howard Carter - British Egyptologist and archaeologist, famous for the discovery of King Tut's tomb

Genealogy Resources for the Surname CARTER:

100 Most Common U.S. Surnames & Their Meanings
Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census?

CARTER Family Genealogy Forum
Search this popular genealogy forum for the Carter surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Carter query.

FamilySearch - CARTER Genealogy
Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Carter surname and its variations.

CARTER Surname & Family Mailing Lists
RootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Carter surname.

Cousin Connect - CARTER Genealogy Queries
Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Carter, and sign up for free notification when new Carter queries are added.

DistantCousin.com - CARTER Genealogy & Family History
Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Carter.

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-- Can't find your last name listed? Suggest a surname to be added to the Glossary of Surname Meanings & Origins.

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References: Surname Meanings & Origins

Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.

Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.

Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.

Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.

Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.

Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.

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